Mama Renew

Mother’s Day is coming up, and one of the best ways we know of to celebrate motherhood is the annual performance of My Mother’s Story:  The Extraordinary Lives of Ordinary Women.  Twenty local actresses share a spoken word collage of their mothers’ stories, inviting each of us to better understand our own stories and our life as a mother today.

Mama Renew and Babyvibe are proud to offer a contest to win a pair of tickets to this year’s performance of My Mother’s Story on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10th. To win, enter your comment in response to our question below.

Looking for more Mother’s Day gift ideas?

We have compiled a special collection of unique opportunities to nurture you. Take a look!

***************

Win 2 Tickets for My Mother’s Story

Bring your mother, your grandmother, a sister or friend.

To enter, share a bit of your own story below – your own life as mother or that of your mother or grandmother.

It could be funny, joyous or sad, a challenge or a victory, or simply a tiny window into the daily life of motherhood – in your time or theirs.

click here to enter the contest

Contest Deadline is midnight, Tuesday, April 5th.

We’ve seen several mamas we know go on big trips recently away from their sweet children.  Some for work, some for personal development, and some for the simple and important reason of needing some time and space for themselves.

We came across this quote recently and wanted to share the powerful imagery with you:

“When I travel alone far from home,

I think of my children’s faces to calm myself down.

Those faces are my mandalas. They comfort and secure me.

The faces of those we love are the first,

the primal, mandalas for us all.”

-Mary Pipher in her 1996 book The Shelter of Each Other

***************

What helps you stay connected to your family when you are far away?

click here to comment

When was the last time you sat down with pen and paper and wrote something just because?  Not a shopping list.  Not a note to the teacher.  You may not consider yourself a writer at all.  You may have set down the pen the day you gave birth and have not yet found the space to pick it up again.  Sitting in a room full of mothers writing their stories this weekend it became clear that we all have a lot to share that otherwise goes unsaid.

Peggy O’Mara of Mothering Magazine led us through a workshop entitled “Soulful Writing”, inviting us to simply write in 2, 3, and 5 minute segments.  No editing, no pausing, just writing the words as they came. Each segment had a theme such as “when i see cherry blossoms I…”, “my kids…” and the real challenge – “my mother is…”

And so we began to write.  The sound of 25 pens scribbling away, our words landing on paper with a speed and flow that we perhaps had not anticipated them emerging.  Gathered in small groups we then shared our writing, and we were surprised by the intimacy that quickly emerged.

We at Mama Renew invite you to simply write.   On scraps of paper while waiting for school pickup, or in a treasured journal in a favourite cafe.  Just write. Or, accept our writing challenge below and comment on this blog entry!

If you’re seeking guidance, you may want to consider three wonderful opportunities:

1. Unleashing Your Creativity Join Mama Renew for our drop-in workshop on creativity & motherhood.  Wednesday, May 13th in Vancouver.  Learn more…

2. The Momoir Project Workshops for mothers on writing our stories.  Based in Vancouver, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. as well as through an online guide.  Learn more…

3.  Writing Your Mother’s Story A workshop for women who would like to write their own mother’s story. Based in Vancouver.  Learn more…

***************

We invite you to write something here on the theme of self-care.

Go for it!  Time yourself – 2 minutes or less.

When I think of self-care I….

click here to comment

Mama Renew and Dancing Star Birth participated this past weekend in the Healthy Families Conference.  We were happy to reconnect with many clients, friends, and colleagues.  It was a pleasure to meet Peggy O’Mara, editor of Mothering Magazine, and learn from her, and we thought we’d share some highlights from her talk on Building Community:

O’Mara proposed that within each circle of parents is the smaller foundation community of the family itself.  We were touched by her sharing of home as a sanctuary - the place where we feel safe enough to let our guards down and be vulnerable, fall apart, and then regather.  Within this sanctuary of the family we can put into place elements to facilitate this sense of safety such as privacy, beauty, quiet, regular meals, and freedom from overstimulation.  With this strong foundation we are then able to reach out and contribute to our larger community of families, building the social web that will support us through the years to come.

The work of Paul Hawken in his book Blessed Unrest explores the massive network of over 1,000,000 groups big and small doing work on social and economic justice.   As O’Mara explored the power of what happens when people come together, we were reminded of the importance of the work that we do with Mama Renew and Dancing Star Birth.  So often we see both prenatal and mothering groups continue on as a circle of support for months and even years beyond our time with them.  Each small circle of parents supporting one another is part of a much larger movement of groups big and small creating community in our busy world.  Each time we reach out, we are building one more connection.

Those present at the conference brainstormed together some creative ideas for fostering community such as:

Cohousing

Build community in your home by choosing to live with other adults or families.

Shared Days

Share household duties with another family – spend the day together playing, cooking & cleaning together.

Meal Coop

Each family makes a large meal and shares it with 2-3 other families.

***************

What are some unique ways you have helped build community as a family?

click here to comment

We’re getting ready for our Unleashing Your Creativity Workshop in Vancouver on May 13th, and want to be sure you all know about this important new documentary film showing this weekend.  We see so many of our friends & clients struggle with this theme of motherhood & creativity.

Who Does She Think She Is? explores women balancing their lives as artists and mothers.  We’ll be there – and you?

As the beloved Gilda Radner said,

“I can always be distracted by love, but eventually I get horny for my creativity.”

We are happy to share with you our final installment from our exclusive interview with the legendary Peggy O’Mara, editor of Mothering Magazine. She will be coming to Vancouver This Weekend! April 18th & 19th for the Healthy Families Conference. Congratulations to Abby in Vancouver who won our contest for a free conference pass & hotel stay.

In response to our last post on “Doing It All“, contest winner Abby Mikkelson, doula and mother of three, shared:

“I can’t do it all, but there are times I can do more than others. When I can do more, I offer more. And it is OK to take when I cannot give. Sometimes in taking it is giving a gift to someone who really needs to give in that moment. But Peggy O’Mara is right, we cannot do this in isolation.”

Given that we are preparing for the Healthy Families Conference, we thought we’d ask Peggy to share her words of wisdom on the subject of healthy families.  We were amused to learn that when her children were young she actually looked into what makes a family healthy – hoping to discover that her family was doing ok!  Here is some of what she learned:

Mama Renew: How would you define a “Healthy Family”?

Peggy O’Mara: Healthy families communicate.  They show appreciation for one another.  They rebound from anger.  It’s not that we don’t have anger, but that we are able to rebound from it.  In a healthy family, nobody dominates.  Every member of the family is considered in decision-making, but parents still claim their authority.

It is important for families to create their own ethos or standard as a family.  It is important to have a bigger purpose, a sense of the world around them and the values that they share.

You know what’s so cool?  Your kids continue to learn from you even as adults.  I feel like as I’ve continued to change and evolve, so have my children as adults.

We hope you have enjoyed our series of posts featuring Peggy O’Mara.  Be sure to also enjoy our posts from earlier this week with Peggy’s thoughts on “Doing it All”, Simplicity, Optimism, and Finding Your Tribe in today’s world.  Also enjoy our article in Babyvibe with Peggy’s thoughts on intuition and trust.

*********

What helps your family be healthy?

click here to comment!

Our article with yoyobelly today explored the nurturing of our intuition as parents. We wanted to share a bit more here on the nature of the word “Listen”.

The next time someone has something to say, lean in and allow yourself to listen from that place of openness and feel gratitude for what they have to offer.  It takes a conscious effort to do so, but the rewards are considerable.

*********

How do you feel when you listen with an open heart?

click here to comment!

We are happy to share with you another installment of our exclusive interview this week with the legendary Peggy O’Mara, editor of Mothering Magazine. She will be coming to Vancouver April 18th & 19th for the Healthy Families Conference.

In response to yesterday’s post on Finding Your Tribe, mother & marketing consultant Andrea Coutu mused,“I’m so thankful for that and for all the people in my tribe…and for people who get the idea of having a tribe.” So are we… and we’re excited to see so many of you gathered together next weekend.

Yesterday we shared thoughts on building a community of support as we raise our children. So often in Mama Renew groups we hear of mothers who feel a sense of isolation.  Even when surrounded by friends and family many of us are hesitant to reach out and ask for help when we need it.  We asked Peggy to share her words of wisdom:

Mama Renew: What do you see as some of the challenges to building a healthy community of families?

Peggy O’Mara: At the heart of it is the isolation we feel in modern industrial society.  So many of us don’t feel that core sense of community.  We’re so much about rugged individualism.  We believe we Should be able to do it all, and the expectation is that the nuclear family can handle its own needs.

In Canada, you at least have a year of maternity leave.  In the U.S. we have only 6 weeks of unpaid leave.  We have no legislative and policy support for families, so what we’re trying to do as a nuclear family is impossible. We need to get rid of the myth that it’s not ok to get help – it hurts young families.

We will be sharing more of our interview with Peggy O’Mara on Monday with her thoughts on Healthy Families. Be sure to also enjoy our posts from earlier this week with Peggy’s thoughts on Simplicity, Optimism, and Finding Your Tribe in today’s world.  Also enjoy our article in Babyvibe with Peggy’s thoughts on intuition and trust.

***********

To enter leave a comment below sharing your thoughts on Doing it All and Asking for Help…

We are happy to share with you the third installment of our exclusive interview this week with the legendary Peggy O’Mara, editor of Mothering Magazine. She will be coming to Vancouver April 18th & 19th for the Healthy Families Conference. Watch for new blog posts from our interview later this week and next – and be sure to enter the conference contest by leaving a comment below – each day counts as an extra entry!

A few days ago we shared Peggy’s thoughts on Simplicity and yesterday she shared her wisdom on how to maintain our Optimism in today’s world.  We received this gem of a comment from Bernadette Noll of Slow Family Living:

“There is nothing gained from spiraling into the worry, but there is everything gained from using any time we can to slow down, connect and enjoy our time together as a family.”

In our Mothers Unfolding and Mama Renew groups we often see mothers express their desire for more community and connection with other families. With family so often living far away it becomes all the more important to have a strong community of families supporting one another as our children grow. We asked Peggy to share her words of wisdom:

Mama Renew: In an increasingly complex world of options, parents are seeking trusted information, connection, and a community of support. How can we support parents in building healthy community?

Peggy O’Mara: When I first started out with La Leche League I believed that information and support were what we all needed.  Then a midwife friend who had all the information she could possibly need gave birth with a lot of interventions.  I realized that wow, information didn’t protect her from something she didn’t want.  More than information, we really need community, which is for me what the idea of support really means.

With the isolation we feel in modern industrial society so many of us don’t feel that core sense of community.  One of our most popular articles and board forums on Mothering is called Finding Your Tribe – about a mom who had a friend who would hang out for the day.  One liked to cook, the other didn’t, and they helped each other in their parenting throughout the day to resolve the isolation.

We have to see each other in the literal sense, like at the upcoming Healthy Families Conference.  We go for the speakers, but we really go to see each other.  We look around and say, “I’m not so weird…I’m not alone, and look at all these cool people thinking like me or with similar values.”

We will be sharing more of our interview with Peggy O’Mara over the next few days, including “Doing it All” on Friday, and Healthy Families on Monday .  Be sure to read our companion article in Babyvibe with Peggy’s thoughts on intuition and trust.

***********

Win a Free Pass to the Healthy Families Conference & One Night in a Hotel

April 18th & 19th in Vancouver!

Sounds good to us…

To enter leave a comment below sharing your thoughts on finding your tribe…  Each comment you leave this week counts as one entry.

Want to double your chances?  Visit the Natural Pod Blog and let them know just how much you would enjoy the double treat of the conference and a night away from home!

To triple your chances, join the Healthy Families facebook page

Contest ends at midnight, Tuesday, April 14th.  winner will be announced Wednesday, April 15th. Good luck!

We are happy to share with you the second installment of our exclusive interview this week with the legendary Peggy O’Mara, editor of Mothering Magazine. She will be coming to Vancouver April 18th & 19th for the Healthy Families Conference.

Watch for a new blog post from our interview each day this week – and be sure to enter the conference contest by leaving a comment below!

Yesterday we shared some of Peggy’s thoughts on the new trend towards slow family & simplicity in the media.  You all responded with your experience of simplicity, and it is clear to us that centering on time together as a family is essential.  As one of you so eloquently said, “So we minimize those distractions, hunker down, and love each other as best we can.”

We hear a lot about the challenges facing families today within this new economic climate.  We asked Peggy to share her words of wisdom for our readers:

Mama Renew: We see many mothers share the overwhelm they are experiencing in relation to parenting, household, work, personal health and relationships.  The economic crisis is creating additional stress for many area families with job insecurity and changes in the housing market.  What words of wisdom would you like to share with our readers?

Peggy O’Mara: You can make an argument for every new generation facing some new challenge.  I think you have to define your family as your first community, and everything else should flow from that.   We are going back to the basis of community – the intimacy of sharing our common experience and common struggles.

Don’t let your perception be created by the news all around us.  I stop and look around me at my life and I think it’s pretty good.  We have to see the positive.  I think optimism is a job requirement for parents.  We are modeling resilience for our kids. Our kids are not of value because of what they do, but because of who they are, and we need to model a lifestyle that says “you’re good the way you are”.

We will be sharing more of our interview with Peggy O’Mara over the next few days, including Peggy on Finding Your Tribe on Thursday, and “Doing it All” on Friday .  Be sure to read our companion article in Babyvibe with her thoughts on intuition and trust from our exclusive interview, and yesterday’s feature: Peggy on Simplicity.

***********

Win a Free Pass to the Healthy Families Conference & One Night in a Hotel

April 18th & 19th in Vancouver!

Sounds good to us…

To enter leave a comment below sharing your thoughts on what helps you maintain a positive outlook.  Each comment you leave this week counts as one entry.

Want to double your chances?  Visit the Natural Pod Blog and let them know just how much you would enjoy the double treat of the conference and a night away from home!

To triple your chances, join the Healthy Families facebook page

Contest ends at midnight, Tuesday, April 14th.  winner will be announced Wednesday, April 15th. Good luck!

We were gifted with a real treat this week – the opportunity to interview legendary Peggy O’Mara, editor of Mothering Magazine.  She will be coming to Vancouver April 18th & 19th for the Healthy Families Conference, and we were able to go in depth with her on the related themes of Building Community, Simplicity, and Nurturing Families.  Watch for upcoming blog posts on these concepts and more as we approach the conference.

Mama Renew: There is much discussion in these difficult social and economic times of slowing down, simplicity, and connection.  This is the core of our work with Mama Renew as well, seeking ways to reconnect, reclaim, and re-balance as women and mothers.  How do you see this new emphasis on simplicity and slow family within your perspective over the past few decades?

Peggy O’Mara: “I’m very optimistic about what is going on right now.  There is always tremendous opportunity whenever there is crisis.  I see these ideas coming back as a deepening of something we’ve been hearing since my generation.  We were the back-to-the-landers, looking to lead a more simple life at a time when society felt out of control.  This is I think an continuation of an impulse towards simplicity that tends to be emphasized whenever there are too many excesses.

I think until recently people really have believed that money brought happiness.  The economic crisis is pulling the rug out from under the illusion that more is better.  Most of us really feel more peace and satisfaction from our personal lives and our community. That’s one of the ways I keep from feeling depressed about the bigger picture and stay in an optimistic state.  Our communities are full of successes – new programs and ways of reaching out to families like your work with Mama Renew.”

We will be sharing more of our interview with Peggy O’Mara over the coming week, including Peggy on Optimism on Tuesday, Finding Your Tribe on Wednesday, and “Doing it All” on Thursday .  Be sure to read our companion article in Babyvibe with her thoughts on intuition and trust from our exclusive interview.

***********

New this week!  Mama Renew and Natural Pod are happy to offer you a second chance to win a free pass to the Healthy Families Conference April 18th & 19th in Vancouver.

The lucky winner will receive not only free entry to the conference, but also one night of hotel accommodation.  Sounds good to us…

To enter leave a comment below sharing your thoughts on what simplicity means for your family.  Each day this week that you comment on our blog entries counts as one entry.

Want to double your chances?  Visit the Natural Pod Blog and let them know just how much you would enjoy the double treat of the conference and a night away from home!

To triple your chances, join the Healthy Families facebook page

Contest ends at midnight, Tuesday, April 14th.  winner will be announced Wednesday, April 15th. Good luck!

This month’s Mama Renewed is Callie Camp.  We first met Callie 3 years ago when she was launching her Vancouver East franchise of Fit 4 Two and joined us for a Mothers Unfolding series with her newborn daughter.  Three years later, pregnant with her second daughter, she joined Mama Renew to help build a foundation for herself before entering life with two children.

About Callie

I am the happy mama of two beautiful girls (Carmen, 3, and Keira, 1).  I am also a Prenatal & Postnatal Fitness Specialist, a wrangler of babies, a singer of songs and an educator and motivator of moms and moms-to-be! I LOVE traveling, reading, cooking, quilting, knitting, triathalons, and most recently – vegetable gardening!  Three words that capture my way being in this world are Dynamic, Adventurous, and Adaptable.

Why Mama Renew?

I benefited so profoundly as a new mother in Mothers Unfolding, and I couldn’t imagine that Mama Renew would be anything less than amazing.  When I started my boundary setting and emotional self-care had gone out the window.  I was really intimidated by the whole “mother of two” idea and needed to build my confidence for the changes ahead.

New Insights

Boundary-setting.  How to say NO and ask for help when I need it.  Accepting that everything in my life is a CHOICE and that I have the power to change things that aren’t working for me.  Being empowered by what I CAN do, instead of disappointed by what I cannot.

The topic of Good is Good Enough was ( and still is) really challenging for me, but was also the most valuable.  I am a self-admitted over-achiever, control freak, and perfectionist, all of which are really great for my professional life, but not so great for my personal life!

Moving Forward

For me, good self-care comes from recognizing that my emotional well-being is just as important as my physical health.  As a mother of two, my life has changed drastically and sometimes unrealistic expectations get in the way.  My tendency is to try to do everything myself, so letting go of a bit of control and asking for help continues to challenge me.

When I jut sit down and look at my reality and accept the things that I cannot change, I feel like a huge weight is lifted and I’m actually enjoying myself more.  Yes, my house is messier and sometimes work deadlines get delayed.  I am constantly looking, and looking again! at the big picture to set my priorities.  My hope is that I can get better at recognizing the times when I need to reprioritize Before it becomes an issue.